On the Job 

A hit rate of 36 percent on evidence from rape kits stored for years across the state translates into “miracles almost every day,” says Attorney General Mike DeWine.

Who would argue when Cuyahoga County Assistant Prosecutor Rick Bell calls these offenders the “worst of the worst”?

The results we’re seeing with the Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative — in the laboratory, in investigations, and in courtrooms — are among the most promising I’ve witnessed in my career.

A Q&A with Ilse Knecht of the National Center for Victims of Crime
 
Ilse Knecht has been working to advance the DNA analysis of untested sexual assault kits for nearly 15 years. She is deputy director of public policy for the National Center for Victims of Crime and director of its DNA Resource Center. We spoke with her about victims’ needs and other issues related to the testing of old kits.

Rape crisis programs are better positioned to help victims as a result of increased funding made available through the Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Services Expansion Program and Ohio’s new Rape Crisis Trust Fund.

The new Bureau of Criminal Investigation facility in Northwest Ohio will open Nov. 10 on the Bowling Green State University campus.

BCI has deployed five 3D laser scanners around the state to help investigators better document complex crime scenes. Each scanner sits on a tripod and rotates 360 degrees, taking millions of precise laser measurements and hundreds of digital photos. The result is a video that can carry viewers — including investigators, prosecutors, and jurors — through a crime scene.

Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office is expanding its work with law enforcement, prosecutors, and victim advocates under a new Elder Justice Initiative that will increase the investigation and prosecution of elder abuse cases and improve victims’ access to services.

Ohio’s criminal justice community and the field of forensic science both stand to gain with the opening of the Attorney General’s new Bureau of Criminal Investigation facility in Northwest Ohio later this year.

The new Ohio Attorney General’s Center for the Future of Forensic Science, which we are creating in conjunction with the nearly complete Bureau of Criminal Investigation facility at Bowling Green State University, will have a direct and timely impact on Ohio law enforcement agencies, prosecutors’ offices, and citizens.